Elizabeth Warren is by far the most competent, hardworking, intelligent, unifying leader in the race for president of the United States.
I have written about her both as a Senate candidate and as my choice for president in previous columns. She is the only candidate who has strong credentials for progressives and moderates. Since she first ran for Senate in 2012, Warren has consistently supported social and economic justice issues while explaining to the public that these issues do not exclude the working-class demographic. She may be way ahead of her time.
In this deeply disturbing era, the bombastic candidate — left or right — gets the following. Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high,” during the 2016 presidential election. She was conveying that the people in this country were generally moving forward with a mutual understanding of equality — with differences celebrated rather than judged. Four years later, we can say she wildly underestimated the animous of racists, homophobes, and misogynists chomping at the bit to publicly proclaim their malevolent intentions as acceptable.
Sen. Warren has the experience, depth, heart and optimistic approach that the other candidates do not. She assures the public that she is not just employing talking points as a strategy to win votes. She demonstrates her respect for Americans by letting us know she has plans, and she tells us her plans in ways we can understand. Who in recent years has done that?
Ezra Klein from Vox has written eloquently about Warren’s repeated uncanny ability to retain high quality staff, build unexpected alliances, and master complex issues. Klein writes that she is simply the best person for the job.
David Leonhardt of the New York Times has written that Warren is the strongest potential Democrat president but not the strongest potential nominee. This is maddening. Her original sin is her gender in a country that is more male-identified than I imagined in 2016.
Another fault of hers is being the smartest kid in the class. Michael Bloomberg and Joe Biden sound like the village idiots in her company. Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders have dismal records as so-called public servants.
I do not want to spend too much energy on why I believe Bernie Sanders is an ineffective egomaniac, a fraud and a misogynist. His cult following may come after me with pitchforks. What I will write here is that people are an accumulation of their deeds.
I am far from perfect and I am not seeking the purity test here, but c’mon! Do the research. The Gazette editorial board wrote that he has been consistent on his stances. Hardly. He was completely silent on gun control for most of his career unless the winds were flowing in that direction. There is no excuse for such a lack of moral leadership. He constantly spoiled statewide Democratic races in Vermont when he lost primaries and then ran as an Independent. He only cares about Bernie.
In 2016, he ridiculed identity politics as he held up the white working class as his constituency. Now at age 78, he suddenly believes in intersectionality? He believes in “Not me. Us?” No, he just got strategists to tell him to get it together.
Most importantly, he gets nothing done. Have the Bernie bros and company really played this out? President Sanders? The petulant loser of the primary in 2016 who could not suck it up to really campaign for Clinton and to get his followers on board?
Political stances aside, he would be as bad a president as the current person occupying the White House. Sorry, it’s true. He does not play nice in the sandbox with others. His brand of sexism is the leftie insidious kind rather than the buffoon right wing version.
Do you romanticize him as non-compromising? Hmm. Not such a great quality for someone who would have to employ international and domestic diplomacy into a multitude of situations. In terms of consistency, Sanders would continue to get nothing done. Great.
But worst of all, he would not defeat the predator in chief in the general election. If I am wrong about this, someone can bake me a humble pie and I will eat it. I would love to be wrong if he is the candidate, but I do not think a revolution is at hand either way.
His stances on climate change are not out of the ordinary. Warren takes it to the next level when she talks about environmental justice and racism. She has a plan for jobs in clean energy and for righting the environmental wrongs in communities of color.
Biden and Klobuchar have spent too much time capitulating and making back door deals with Republicans, and Sanders makes no deals. Sen. Warren knows how to change the hearts and minds of people who may not agree with her, and she believes in listening and learning.
In the end, Elizabeth Warren is the best example of true leadership as a candidate for president. Whether or not she procures the nomination, she will put the future of our country first. If she gets on the ticket as vice president and gets into office, she will do more to benefit this country than any other vice president in history. I will always be in her corner as she persists.
J.M. Sorrell is a social justice activist and trainer. She chose to write about Sen. Elizabeth Warren as a fitting tribute during Women’s History Month.